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StubHub becomes a partner to 'The Book of Mormon'

By MARK KENNEDY AP Drama Writer

Posted:
03/21/2014 11:15:09 AM EDT

Updated:
03/21/2014 11:43:43 AM EDT

Click photo to enlarge

FILE - In this file image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Josh Gad, right, performs with an ensemble cast in "The Book of Mormon" at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York. The ticket-selling website StubHub said Friday, March 21, 2014, it will provide direct access to premium tickets to the Tony Award-winning smash, marking the first time the site will directly distribute tickets for a Broadway show.

NEW YORK—The sheer gravitational pull of Broadway's "The Book of Mormon" has attracted a new huge fan—StubHub.

The ticket-selling website said Friday it will provide direct access to premium tickets to the Tony Award-winning smash, marking the first time the site directly distributes tickets for a Broadway show.

Telecharge will remain the primary ticket seller for "The Book of Mormon," but StubHub will offer premium tickets and exclusive ticket packages from the show's box office. StubHub, the world's largest reseller of tickets and a subsidiary of eBay Inc., is even sweetening the offer with a free commemorative show book and tote bag for each ticket purchased.

Tickets to the perennially sold-out "The Book of Mormon" are one of the most sought after items on Broadway, with top premium seats going for a whopping $477 last week. The move by StubHub is the first time the secondary market seller will offer primary-market tickets to any kind of event.

"The Book of Mormon" won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including best musical and had been a sell-out in London and on tour. The show also won a Grammy Award and recouped its $11.4 million Broadway capitalization after just nine months.